A family in Park Slope, Brooklyn, doing stuff and sharing it with the internet.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Ice Cream Carts Are The New Drug Dealers in Park Slope

See the ice cream vendor trying to lure Greyson in with her smiles? Just like a drug dealer.

The New York Post just ran an article about parents against ice cream carts on playgrounds, using quotes from parents that were originally posted on Park Slope Parents, the listserv. There was a mom who compared the carts to drug dealers. The people who were pro-carts said the vendors were just trying to make a living and that it's nice to have a cool treat on a hot day. The people who were anti-carts said that the vendors were ruining their kids' days because the weren't allowed to have ice cream. Plus, who knows what kinds of toxins and preservatives are in those ice creams??

Now that I'm on Park Slope Parents I see why Park Slope families get the reputation of being militant and crazy. Some are militant and crazy...but I think most of them are normal parents, but they're not the ones emailing their opinions saying they don't care about the ice cream vendors either way.

Reporters scavenge for stories about parenting on the listserv. It's easy for them! A discussion will start on the forum and then people with extreme opinions start chiming in and it turns into a verbal tornado. When probably 95% of the people on the listserv aren't vehement about the issue either way. Reporters see a discussion with all sorts of polarizing elements and all of a sudden every parent in Park Slope is either adamantly for or against ice cream vendors in the park. That makes for great copy! Meanwhile, when I've seen those vendors in the park, no one has seemed to care. I saw them and thought it was a little weird, but I was like, whatever. It's harmless. But, if I had to choose sides, I'd say that vendors shouldn't be on the playgrounds. Where's the line? There could be 100 vendors in there and then you'd be at a food court, not a playground.

I love the listserv, though. It's very entertaining. And I love that even people who aren't on the listserv are kept apprised of the crazies. Because the people who don't live in Park Slope or have kids are like, this has got to be a joke. But it's not! These people really exist!